So warm, kind & funny... you couldn’t help but love him
DAVID was a true gentleman. We properly got to know each during a trip to Qatar with the All-Party Parliamentary Group in 2017.
As soon as we met I could tell he was the best company. He was warm, he was kind, but most of all he was funny.
I remember we landed in Qatar and we had a meeting with the British Ambassador in the basement room of a hotel.
It was really late at night and one MP kept asking questions and we were all thinking: “Will you shut up?”
David wrote him a note saying: “Shut up.”
We were all howling and from that moment we bonded. The rest of that trip we just laughed – he was always up for a laugh.
We went to see the Emir of Qatar and we were sitting in this really grand room, and David started talking about how he had heard the Emir watches Love Island.
We were all laughing. His humour was incredible. He was a joy to spend time with and never took himself too seriously.
On the final day, the Qataris took us to this camel farm and there was a camel swimming pool and a camel hospital.
There was this camel being examined and this vet was up to his shoulder inside the camel. David was laughing so much.
He talked about his children with such affection. The gentleman who facilitated the Qatar trip worked at the embassy. David was trying to set him up with one of his daughters, and kept calling him “son-in-law”.
After that trip we were firm friends in Parliament, even though we were rarely in the same voting lobby.
Even though we had little in common politically, he was just wonderful. When I left
Parliament – well, when I got chucked out of Parliament – he rang me not long afterwards and said to me: “Paula, I’ve met your successor. I introduced myself, saying, ‘I’m one of Paula’s good friends – you’ve got a very hard act to follow’.”
I just thought that was so kind. When I was diagnosed with cancer, he sent me flowers and contacted me. He really got it and he stayed in touch.
Two weeks ago he asked if we could meet in Manchester at the Tory conference, but I’ve been working and have not been that well so I couldn’t make it.
He was the epitome of a gentleman. He was quite old-fashioned, he was very respectful and so chivalrous.
I’m very partisan and I suppose in some ways I tried to resist liking him so much because, “Oh, he was a Tory”.
But you couldn’t help it – you couldn’t help but love him. He was absolutely infectious.
The similarities with Jo Cox are crazy. I’m devastated that this has happened again, it’s hard to believe it’s real.
I’m struggling to come to terms with it, I’m angry – really, really angry. Stabbed in a church – David was a devout Catholic, which somehow makes it even worse.
I will just remember his kindness and the fun that we had and how we laughed together. I loved him.